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<title>Royal Magician: Double Cat Dare by Maro Bones (Marrow_Bone)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24764857">Royal Magician: Double Cat Dare</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marrow_Bone/pseuds/Maro%20Bones'>Maro Bones (Marrow_Bone)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Royal Magician [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Hat in Time (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cut Characters, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, general creepy stuff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:02:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,215</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24764857</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marrow_Bone/pseuds/Maro%20Bones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A girl is chased through the manor; but she's not Hat Kid, and she's not alone.</p><p>Takes place ~30 years before game time.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Royal Magician [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790956</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Royal Magician: Double Cat Dare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Ey yo! This is supposed to be a short little burble to just set up a few things for the RM AU aaaand to have a little bit of fun with characters from *outside* Subcon for once. But I won't tell you who they are quite yet ; )</p><p>Oh and I do play around with the layout of Vanessa's manor, so it won't match up perfectly with the game. I imagine it as bigger then it is in-game, with more floors and more rooms.</p><p>There's no required reading before this one.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"<em>Peeeeeeck peck peck peck peck </em>"</p><p>She squeaked, dashing down the hall so fast she skidded and slammed into the wall trying to make it around the corner. Breath knocked out of her, but not slowing down, she bounded down the next corridor.</p><p>Shoot; she had been down here already, and knew the only things past this point would be a bookshelf, some far too tiny furniture, and a door that she had already established was locked. </p><p>Perfect. </p><p>The monster had cornered her in the worst place possible.</p><p>Around the crook of the hall rang a chorus of unearthly shrieks and moans, emitted from just the aura of the awful beast that followed her. Not even plugging her ears made it go away.</p><p>
  <b> <em>"COME HEEEERE DARLING... MOMMY WANTS TO PLLAAYY WITH YYOOUU"</em> </b>
</p><p>That sickly sweet voice sent the child's heart straight into her throat. She had to find a hiding place, and fast. Her eyes darted about; the only things here were too tiny and offered no hope for cover. </p><p>She looked up.</p><p>Well, a long shot was better than none.</p><p>She sprang up the bookcase, spilling dusty volumes to the floor as she scrabbled up hastily. Reaching the top she spun around, crouched, and leapt, hitting the hallway chandelier with a crash as the swinging of the fixture pulled at it's anchor; the ceiling threatening to drop with creaking protests.</p><p>She hissed as the flames from the candles stung at her. Thankfully she didn't catch ablaze before the swinging snuffed them out. Now the only thing she could do was spread out to try to reduce the motion of the light, and pray.</p><p>The swaying had barely even slowed down as the noise of demonic <em> wrongness </em> hit a crescendo below. </p><p>Around the bend of the hallway she first saw the hands; horrible, long, boney, and bent. They clutched at the corner of the wall, dragging along the stained wallpaper and peeling it up in shreds as the... Presumably <em> face </em> of the creature peered out, piercing beady red eyes surrounded by a matted tangle of a silhouette.</p><p>
  <b> <em>"WHERE AAAARE YOOOOUUU...?"</em> </b>
</p><p>The entity called in lilting song. The girl shuddered, even though she tried her best not to.</p><p>The thing slinked slowly down the hall, blackness dripping off of it. The horrible pungency of cheap perfume, soured milk, and ice-burnt flesh the entire manor was permeated with grew stronger in it's presence.</p><p>The chandelier still shook. The ceiling still creaked. It was a miracle the thing hadn't seemed to notice her yet. Loose flakes of daub pattered down and dusted her hair from cracks that slowly widened around the light's anchor. She needed another miracle that it didn't tear out and crash her right in front of the monster.</p><p>It stood right below her now; it's head carefully scanning from side to side. </p><p>It moved away. </p><p>The girl could hardly contain her shaking relief that it was <em>working.</em> The shadow paced over to the door that the kid knew was locked.</p><p>
  <b> <em>"ARE YOU IN THERE, DAAAARLIIING?"</em> </b>
</p><p> The handle clicked as it tried it in vain, the door not budging. It hissed,</p><p>
  <b> <em>"LLLOCKEDDD... THE KEY..."</em> </b>
</p><p>Then it spun around and plodded away, muttering to itself.</p><p>Once the grotesque sound of it's aura faded completely, the girl let out the breath she had been holding too long in giddy relief. That was <em> close </em>. But at least now she knew; the beast was too stupid to look up.</p><p>Not one moment of peace passed before she froze at a new sound, hackles raised. Was it back already? No. The door handle of the closed room was turning. She stared as the door creaked open with agonizing slowness.</p><p>Suddenly a pale round face popped out, scanning the hall to make sure the ghost had actually left. It was a boy; from what she could tell, about her age; and also from what she could tell, he wasn't very fond of the beast either.</p><p>"Psssst!"</p><p>The boy's face snapped up and he leapt back into the room.</p><p>"No wait! I'm not a demon or anything! Just a normal, regular, <em> alive </em> kid!"</p><p>She  yell-whispered as loudly and quietly as she could manage. </p><p>The boy reappeared slowly and stared back up at her. A flicker of conflict was in his eyes. Then he sighed and motioned for the girl to follow him, and took off down the hall.</p><p>She sprang off the chandelier, landed lightly on all fours, and followed.</p><p>--</p><p>Ew. Ew. Ew. She hated the cold. She hated the wet. Now she was cold <em> and </em> wet. </p><p>The boy had brought her to what was either intended to be a cellar, or a dungeon. Possibly both. Anything stored here must have been spoiled long ago; and if any prisoners had been left down here, they would be pretty spoiled too. </p><p>The boy sloshed through the wretched smelling water that stood 8 inches deep on the floor, tinged with the sourness of vinegar that leaked from the vats lining the walls and the reek of rot, his shoes and socks in hand and pants rolled up high. </p><p>She picked her way after him and tried her best to avoid getting a single drop of it anywhere she didn't absolutely have to and flinched at every strange texture that squished between her toes. She was going to stink for weeks.</p><p>He took her all the way to the back of the room where some relatively stable crates lay clustered together. He hauled himself up on top of the dry surface, and she scrambled up after, flopping over and letting out a huge sigh.</p><p>"We should be okay here."</p><p>The boy finally spoke.</p><p>"I came in this way and was here for a while, and she never came down. Plus we can escape through there, if we have to."</p><p>He motioned to a nearby door that must lead to the outside, if the whistling draft was any indication. </p><p>She looked at him, incredulous.</p><p>"<em> She </em>? Like; Spooky Blobbo McGee up there is a singular living thing with an identity and not some horrible collection of shadow phantoms made of the nightmares of babies or something?"</p><p>He laughed awkwardly.</p><p>"Well, I doubt she's <em> alive </em>. Not anymore. It's complicated. I've been trying to piece it together. It's been an interesting mystery, to say the least."</p><p>"Interesting. Yeah. Uh huh. Sure."</p><p>She pulled herself up and rested her head in her hands, elbows on the rough wood of the crate and feet kicking the air behind her.</p><p>"Hey uh maybe this is a trivial question, but like, <em> what are you doing here </em>?"</p><p>He scrunched his face and looked at her suspiciously.</p><p>"I could ask the same about you. There shouldn't be <em> anyone </em> here at all. As far I know, anyway."</p><p>He seemed perplexed at her mere existence.</p><p>The feeling was mutual.</p><p>"What <em> do </em> you know then?"</p><p>"Weeeellll."</p><p>He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly trying to decide if he should cough up any information.</p><p>"Hey, c'mon, we're in the same boat here it seems. You scratch my ears I scratch yours, eh?"</p><p>She blinked up at him with big bright eyes, pulling the most trustworthy and sweet face she could manage.</p><p>"... Well, yeah, guess it doesn't hurt anything..."</p><p>He folded his legs under him and cleared his throat.</p><p>"What I know about this place... Do take it with a grain of salt; I'm just piecing together what I can from notes laying around. <em> Ahem </em>. Well. Clearly it is a haunted manor."</p><p>"Well, yeah."</p><p>"Yeah. The big scary creature is the Queen."</p><p>"The <em> Queen </em>?"</p><p>Her jaw dropped.</p><p>"Wow. Their royalty <em> sucks </em> around here. What's next, a Duke that's just a ball of horrible faces that scream or something? Maybe a Count that's a wall of flesh. I wish <em> I </em> was the queen; I'd totally rock it and not be some big, evil, <em> bully. </em>"</p><p>He giggled, then quickly stifled himself.</p><p>"Well, she was <em> different </em> a while back, I guess. Did you see those paintings in the halls?"</p><p>"The ones that are all torn up?"</p><p>"Yeah. I think she's supposed to be the blonde lady. I know her name is Vanessa."</p><p>"A regular human name, too. Not like... Bonecrusher or Soulstealer or something. An elegant name for such an elegant lady."</p><p>She stuck her nose in the air and sniffed haughtily, and the boy laughed again. </p><p>"And uh... Um... She's the reason there's an eternal winter outside!"</p><p>"Gee, you think? That the witch at the center of the giant unseasonable ice storm that smells like a frost-burnt rabbit and drops the temperature of every room she enters could be the one behind the eternal winter? There was something I hadn't pieced together by myself."</p><p>"... Well, just to make <em> sure </em> you knew, and all..."</p><p>"You haven't found out <em> much </em> information, have you?"</p><p>He squirmed.</p><p>"Not... Not really."</p><p>She narrowed her eyes at him and pouted. With a huff the girl sat up criss-cross, and circled back in the conversation.</p><p>"So like. My original question. What <em> are </em> you doing here?"</p><p>The boy looked like he didn't want to answer that.</p><p>"Uh... Well... I uh... <em> Kind </em> of had... My soul stolen by a ghost and he made sign a contract to do his dirty work and sent me in here to get something for him."</p><p>He rubbed the back of his neck and looked sheepish.</p><p>The girl stared for a long moment, then let out a barking cackle.</p><p>"You had WHAT stolen by a WHAT and you did WHAT? Oh by the Gods that is <em> amazing </em> , like, <em> wow </em>, I wouldn't want to be you!"</p><p>"Aw knock it off!"</p><p>He gave her a playful shove while she giggled.</p><p>"The ghost is mostly just a <em> pain </em>; I let him do that so I could have passage through the woods. I'll get my soul back and everything when I'm done here."</p><p>"Done doing what?"</p><p>"Um... Picking... Fire flowers...?"</p><p>She looked at him skeptically, but shrugged and dropped it.</p><p>"Fine. Keep your secrets."</p><p>Now it was <em> his </em>turn.</p><p>"Well fair's fair; why are <em> you </em> here?"</p><p>"Oh! Well you know, I'm here because I need to get something for a friend! That demon <em> stole it </em> from him! So I'm doing a good deed and helping him out!"</p><p>She bounced excitedly, clasping her hands together.</p><p>"My friend's really nice! <em> He </em> didn't steal my <em> soul </em> or anything. In fact when I get this trinket for him he'll give me a toooon of treasure! Lots of sparkly things! Like gold! And rings! With big emeralds on top! And a croooown! Oh and he made me this cool jacket and scarf, since it was wayyy too cold without them."</p><p>She popped the edges of her sleek satiny red jacket and threw an end of the long matching scarf over her shoulder for emphasis.</p><p>It was the boy's turn to look at <em> her </em> skeptically.</p><p>"Uhhhh firstly... What kind of friend sends another friend into a manor haunted by a powerful child-murdering ice witch?"</p><p>She looked at him crossly.</p><p>"Uh, like, this thing he needs me to get is like <em> really </em> important to him and because I'm <em> such a nice person </em> I was like, yeah I'll go get it, since he can't and all, but he did <em> warn </em> me about the demon! I just... Messed up and... Kinda sorta accidentally alerted her when I... broke the window to get in."</p><p>His eyebrows knitted together.</p><p>"Wait, <em> your </em> guy actually <em> warned </em> you? <em> Lucky </em>...*"</p><p>He shook his head.</p><p>"Wait a minute, wait a minute, why <em> can't </em> this dude come get it for himself? And why did you <em> break a window </em>?"</p><p>She punched him on the shoulder.</p><p>"You only answered one of mine! I think you're out of free questions, mister!"</p><p>She wasn't about to tell him that those statues outside scared her so much that she threw a brick at the window so she could get away in a hurry. That Vanessa <em> noticed </em>the sound of the crash, the tinkling of the glass as it fell, and the loud cursing as she had to haul herself in without getting stabbed as much as possible was pure bad luck and not her fault.</p><p>He rubbed his shoulder and half-shrugged with a look of 'Fair enough' on his face. </p><p>"Well then, we can't stay here forever and we gotta get our... Stuff, right? Well, I have an idea."</p><p>She perked up.</p><p>"I'm listening."</p><p>"Let's look for it all together, ok? That way we can watch each other's backs and... Not have to worry about the other suddenly breaking a window or dropping a chandelier without warning."</p><p>She stuck her tongue out at him.</p><p>"It's for the best I suppose. We can't have <em> you </em> getting caught; that other ghost already took your soul, you don't need to have to write out an IOU to this one!"</p><p>She held out her hand.</p><p>He reached for it, and she quickly drew it away.</p><p>"Upupup! First, we gotta introduce ourselves! It's no good making a deal with someone when you don't know their name. I'll start. <em> Ahem </em>."</p><p>She held out her hand again; a huge toothy grin on her face.</p><p>"Hello! My name's Michiko!"</p><p>The boy had one of his practically trademarked looks of apprehension on his face again. After a moment, he took her hand, and introduced himself.</p><p>"Uh, hi. They call me, uh... Timmy."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Notice anything about the main character yet? If so I wasn't subtle enough. If not I was *too* subtle. Either way I hate exposition; hopefully we can avoid it next round.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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